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Down With OPP: Blynken’s A Peach

Hot Dog, The Foot Long PIPL. You down with OPP?

Hot Dog, The Foot Long PIPL. You down with OPP? Hot Dog is OPP: Other People’s PIPL

Let’s not burry the lead here. It turns out our very own Blynken, born of House Tufters at Barnegat Light State Park was just spotted at the Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia by the lovely & very dedicated Doris & Pat as part of survey down there.

While the love of his life Ginger was not explicitly seen, it was allegedly quite difficult to read all the itty bands as Blynken & his friends were tearing up the beach as they love to do while being stalked by a Peregrine Falcon (as they love to do). Ginger was there. She had to be. Blynken & Ginger are totally in love. Those are just the facts.

Blynken & Ginger could be planning on setting up a little winter cottage in Georgia as it is far enough South for wintering. Or they could be on their way to more exotic locations. Either way, their appearance there underscores the importance of all sorts of people taking good care of our beaches along the entire flyway. While New Jersey goes through great efforts to give the PIPL a hand when they nest up in our state, the fate of our babies is ultimately dependent on them finding healthy, happy, and safe places to live all along the coast.

By example, LBI’s very own Holgate is closed completely for the nesting season, but then open to trucks during migration. It’s important to remember these are the same animals, and they are still just as endangered. As with the people, LBI hosts both resident PIPL and tourists. So let’s always remember to extend our Island hospitality to both.

While it is, of course, completely understandable for us to favor our own little babies, the true measure of our hospitality is reflected in how well we treat OPP: Other People’s PIPL.

Hot Dog The Foot Long PIPL is OPP, and also the biggest PIPL I have ever seen. Here he is last week, hanging out in our tire tracks, as they like to do, and very much like Blynken & Ginger are probably doing at various locations up and down the Coast.Hot Dog, the OPP, is so big he likes to hang with the enormous Black Bellied Plover as he feels a little less awkward and out of place.I’m going to guess that Hot Dog The Foot Long PIPL is the last PIPL we are going to see this Season, as migration winds to a close in what has been an unbelievable Summer of Plove.

9Comments

Wonderful post to read! I wish we restricted access to our Holgate refuge for a longer period of time; not just for active nesting/breeding of PIPL. We know through surveys that PIPL are there before and after nesting, while Red Knot, and other birds use the refuge to feed, rest, and stop over during migration.

My perspective is different. I love that Holgate opens at reasonable times, and closes only for the highest importance. Because in the end, we have to share the beach. It does not work if we leave beaches only for PIPL or only for humans. You wind up with either bitterness, or disaster. But Holgate, and Barnegat Light too, represent reasonable compromises. If we celebrate them for what they are, we move in a good direction. Sharing is not easy, but it is worth the efforts and risks. Holgate has value because people love it so much. In the long run, those same people come to recognize that the Piping Plover are their allies. We have places like Holgate to enjoy in its pristine glory thanks in big part to its importance to the Piping Plover.

A balanced perspective based on sharing the Beach needs promotion. The Piping Plover can, and should, certainly live comfortably with us in the spring and fall. I know this because I watch it all carefully. What would be great is if more people who utilize the Beach in the off season were aware of the animals, their needs, and our responsibilities. I know for a fact that the Beach is a much better place when we all experience it together.